Felena Hanson has flipped the way we view work on its side while simultaneously shattering the foundation of the “good old boys club” and empowering female entrepreneurs to understand finance and scalability. Felena Hanson is defining female entrepreneurship, while simultaneously empowering women to “go big or go home”.
Her budding business, Hera Hub is a shared, flexible work and meeting space where entrepreneurial women can create and collaborate in a professional, productive, spa-like environment. With three successful locations in San Diego and her first signed franchise agreement in Washington D.C. her aesthetic and community oriented office spaces are in-step with two important trends.
1. Women are starting businesses twice as fast as men. 1
2. The number of entrepreneurs, freelancers, and independent workers is predicted to grow to 60% by 2020.2
Hera Hub’s coworking space is boldly answering that call and has received many accolades, including a stunning feature in the New York Times, titled “Go Big or Go Home”. Yet not everyone has embraced this power house with open arms, her recent feature in KPBS titled “San Diego Office Says “No Boys Allowed… Sort Of” sparked much controversy as men and women alike questioned her mission, scalability, and of course, her female focused niche. She has also found challenges in the commercial real estate world. It took her close to a year to secure her first lease, with only slightly better success on her second and third location. Hanson says, “Given Hera Hub was a new business and model, no one wanted to take a risk. The traditional, male-dominated commercial real estate world didn’t understand what I was doing.”
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Despite opposition, her impact on San Diego, the coworking world, and her innovative approach to the way we work will support her glorious goal of supporting 20,000 female owned businesses in the next 5 years.
Felena’s lifelong love affair with business, collaboration, and action have prepared her to become the next big thing. Her business is a direct reflection of herself: smart, innovative and beautiful. Her soon-to-be global brand will take the world by storm and we are proud to say it all began in San Diego!
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Learn more about the Hera Hub Franchise here. Watch Felena's TEDxtalk Flight Club by click here.
Footnotes
1. http://www.esa.doc.gov/sites/default/files/reports/documents/women-owned-businesses.pdf
2. http://info.mbopartners.com/rs/mbo/images/2013-MBO_Partners_State_of_Independence_Report.pdf
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Felena Hanson's Feature is Part of the collaborative photography project, 7 Badass Business Women In San Diego. This feature was styled and written by Skyler McCurine of Le Red Balloon and hair/makeup/portraits done by Jennie J Sullins of Beauty Hive Studios. San Diego is home to some truly incredible female entrepreneurs. Each woman in our series is a change agent in their specific industry, breaking down barriers and changing the perception of what it means to be a female entrepreneur.
